‘The Godfather’ gave Al Pacino his career
But it’s taken actor a lifetime to accept praise for film role
It’s hard to imagine “The Godfather” without Al Pacino. His understated performance as Michael Corleone, who became a respectable war hero despite his corrupt family, goes almost unnoticed for the first hour of the film — until at last he asserts himself, gradually taking control of the Corleone criminal operation and the film along with it.
But there would be no Al Pacino without “The Godfather,” either. The actor was a rising star of New York theater with just one movie role, in the 1971 drug drama “The Panic in Needle Park,” when Francis Ford Coppola fought for him, against the wishes of Paramount Pictures, to play the ruminative prince of his Mafia epic. A half-century’s worth of pivotal cinematic roles followed, including two more turns as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather Part II” and “Part III.”
“The Godfather” premiered in New York on March 15, 1972, before being widely released in the United States on March 24, and 50 years later, you can imagine all the reasons Pacino wouldn’t want to talk about it anymore. Maybe he’d be embarrassed or annoyed about how this one performance, from the outset of his movie career, still dominates his resume, or perhaps he has said all there is to say about it.
But in a February interview, Pacino, 81, was quite philosophical, even whimsical, about discussing the film. He remains an ardent admirer of the movie and of the lengths that Coppola and his co-stars went to support him, and he is still awestruck about how it single-handedly gave him
his career.
“I’m here because I did ‘The Godfather,’ ” Pacino said. “For an actor, that’s like winning the lottery. When it comes right down to it, I had nothing to do with the film but play the part.”
This interview with Pacino has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: How did the role of Michael Corleone first come up?
A:
At that time in my life, I didn’t have a choice. Francis wanted me. I had made the one film. And I wasn’t as interested in film to the extent that I became interested. My head was in another space. I felt out of place in the early films that I made. I remember saying to my friend Charlie (his mentor, acting teacher Charlie Laughton): Wow, they talk about it being real, but meanwhile it’s not. Because there are wires all over you. And also, you’ve
got to do it again! (Laughs.) You do it, and they say, well, go again, do it again. It’s real, and not real at the same time. Which takes some getting used to.
Q: When did you and Coppola meet?
A:
To give a little history to it, Francis was this filmmaker who had Zoetrope (his production company, American Zoetrope), and people like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and (Martin) Scorsese and (Brian) De Palma were all part of a group. And I remember seeing a few of them when Francis asked me to come to San Francisco after he had seen me in a play on Broadway. … He had written “Patton” by that time, and he sent me a script for a wonderful love story he had written (which was never produced). He wanted to see me. That meant I had to get on a plane and go to San Francisco, which is
something I was not used to. I thought, is there any other way to go? I can’t tell this guy to come all the way back here, can I? So I said, “I’ll bite the bullet,” and I went. I spent five days with him. It really was special, this film. But we were rejected, of course. I was an unknown actor, and he had made a couple of films, “You’re a Big Boy Now” and “The Rain People.” So I went back home and never heard from him again.
Q: But you did, eventually. When was that?
A:
“Panic in Needle Park” hadn’t come out yet. And I got a call from Francis Coppola — a name from the past. First, he says he’s going to be directing “The Godfather.” I thought, well, he might be going through a mini-breakdown or something. How did they give him “The Godfather”?
Q: You didn’t think it was possible that he was
making it? A:
I’ve got to tell you, it was a big deal already. It was a big book. When you’re an actor, you don’t even put your eyes on those things. They don’t exist for you. You’re in a certain place in your life where you’re not going to be accepted in those big films — not yet, at least. And he said, not only was he directing it, (breaking into laughter) but he wanted me to do it. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh here. It just seemed so outrageous. Here I am, talking to somebody who I think is flipped out. I said, “What train am I on? OK. Humor the guy.” And he wanted me to do Michael. I thought, “OK, I’ll go along with this.” I said, “Yes, Francis, good.” You know how they talk to you when you’re slipping? They say, “Yes! Of course! Yes!” But he wasn’t. It was the truth. And then I was given the part.
Q: Paramount was famously opposed to the idea of your playing the role. A: Well, they rejected his entire cast! (Laughs.) They rejected (Marlon) Brando. They rejected Jimmy Caan and Bob Duvall. There was conflict.
Q: You received your first Academy Award nomination for “The Godfather,” yet you didn’t attend the ceremony that year. Were you protesting because you were nominated as a supporting actor and not as a lead? A:
No, absolutely not. I was at that stage in my life where I was somewhat, more or less, rebellious. I did go back for others. But I didn’t go to them early on. It was the tradition. I don’t think Bob (De Niro) went to one of them. George C. Scott didn’t even go. They had to wake him up. (Laughs.) Marlon didn’t go. Look, Marlon gave back the Oscar. How about that? They were rebelling from the Hollywood thing. That kind of thing was in the air.
Q: When you did win an Oscar for “Scent of a Woman,” was there some part of you that still wished you’d won it for playing Michael Corleone?
A:
Absolutely not. If I think about it now, I would say, “Sure, I should have won! I’d have three Oscars! I would be like the big guys.” (Laughs.) No, I don’t think that. It’s a serious thing. You’re being honored for something.
Q: So you’re comfortable now with the praise you received — and continue to receive — for your performance in “The Godfather”?
A:
Oh, yes. I am deeply honored by it. I really am. It’s a piece of work that I was so fortunate to be in. But it’s taken me a lifetime to accept it and move on. It’s not like I played Superman.